


Sewing Mends the Soul

by mezzosesu



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:27:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23041750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mezzosesu/pseuds/mezzosesu
Summary: Antonio is called by Kotetsu on his day off for a sewing 'emergency', and in the process he gets to chat with Kaede.Written forCasual Heroes: A Tiger and Bunny Zine, centered about the personal lives of the heroes.
Relationships: Antonio Lopez & Kaburagi Kaede
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12





	Sewing Mends the Soul

Antonio should have expected that Kotetsu would be the one to disturb his day off.

He’s been thinking about how to spend his downtime for days, and he has a pretty solid game plan. He’d start with an early morning workout at the gym he liked, then come home for a large breakfast with the premium sausage he’d found on sale the other day. After that, he would clean up his place. It’s been ages since he’s scrubbed it down, and he doesn’t want to even consider entertaining any guests in its current state. Finally, when all of that was done, he would relax on his couch until nighttime. Then he would drive to the nearby park where he could view the stars. All in all, it would be a perfect day.

Unfortunately, before he can do any of that, his phone rings, displaying the familiar tiger portrait on the screen. It’s only just after breakfast. So much for his perfect day.

Sighing, he picks up the phone. “What’s up, Kotetsu, it’s my day off – ”

“Antonio!” Kotetsu’s voice blares out of the speaker, loud and frantic. “Quick, you have to come over!”

The momentary confusion from Kotetsu’s panicked tone transforms quickly into high alert. Antonio shifts into serious mode, cradling the phone between his ear and shoulder as he searches his apartment for his jacket.

“Wait, Kotetsu, what’s wrong? Where are you right now?”

Kotetsu makes an odd sound, somewhere between a dying duck and a distressed whale. “There’s no time to explain, just hurry and come over!”

The call disconnects, leaving Antonio even more confused and worried. What could be happening? He grabs his jacket off the back of the couch and his keys from the table before rushing out the door to his car. He gets as far as the corner before he realizes he’s missing a very vital piece of information: Where exactly is he going again?

“That damn – ” Antonio grips the wheel harder and forces himself to breathe. He can’t allow himself to get too out of control here. First, he needs to make sure Kotetsu is alright.

Since Kotetsu’s place is close, Antonio decides to go there first. After parking haphazardly on the street, Antonio jumps out of the car and runs to the door. Based on how distressed Kotetsu sounded on the phone, Antonio decides to forgo knocking and frantically digs into his pocket for the spare key that Kotetsu gave him. He opens the door, breathless apologies for intruding on the tip of his tongue, and freezes.

He expected to see some sort of catastrophic event, but instead, he spots Kotetsu, Kaede, and, of all people, Barnaby leisurely watching television in the living room. They’re all squished on Kotetsu’s L-shaped couch, Barnaby sitting with his back to the doorway, Kaede taking the edge closest to the small television, and Kotetsu splayed out in the middle. Barnaby has his usual air of indifference around him, one leg crossed over another and head resting against his palm, and Kaede is hugging a large cushion to her body as they watch some sort of Hero TV rerun.

While Antonio’s brain struggles to comprehend what he’s seeing, Kaede glances over. She looks at him for only a second before turning away, then does a double take.

“Oh, Uncle Antonio! Hi!”

Despite the adrenaline in his veins throwing his heartbeat into double-time, he manages a steady nod in response.

“Hey, I... I thought there was an emergency?” he pants out. Even though his muscles and nerves understand the need to look composed, his lungs did not get the memo.

Kotetsu and Barnaby look up at the sound of his voice, and Kotetsu raises a hand in greeting. “Hey, you made it! You look a little sweaty, did you run all the way here?” He tosses his head back in a loud laugh and Antonio’s temple throbs in irritation. Kotetsu has definitely called him over for something stupid again.

“What do you need, Kotetsu, on my  _ day off _ ?”

“Ah, right, that’s today, isn’t it?” Kotetsu’s expression turns apologetic, but Antonio has known him long enough to know it’s just a cover. That cheeky little... “Sorry, but it’s important. I need you to fix Kaede’s blanket.” As Antonio’s eyebrows rise, he continues in a serious voice, “It got caught on something in the laundry earlier today and uh… Yeah. I didn’t know what to do – ”

“Because he’s useless and doesn’t know how to sew,” Barnaby tosses in.

“ – So I decided to call you!” Kotetsu finishes happily. Then, Barnaby’s comment catches up with him and he scowls at his partner. “Hey, you don’t know how to sew either!”

While the two begin to squabble over their basic home economics skills, or lack of them, Kaede gets up with a drawn-out sigh and beckons Antonio towards the hallway. She heads for the dryer and he waits respectfully while she digs through a laundry basket. She comes back out, her arms full of what Antonio assumes is the aforementioned blanket. When it’s unfurled and held up in front of her, Antonio can tell that this isn’t just any blanket, but a handmade quilt – Tomoe’s to be exact. He remembers seeing Kaede for the first time when she was just a baby, wrapped up snug amongst the colorful dancing tiger prints with her impossibly small hands loosely gripping the edges of the fabric.

Fighting off the bittersweet nostalgia, Antonio focuses on Kotetsu’s request and quickly notes the problem: a large gash spread over several squares diagonally through the middle. Geez, what the hell did Kotetsu do to cause a mess like this?

“So…” Kaede shuffles her feet. “Can you fix it?”

Antonio hums. He has an emergency sewing kit, and he just happened to pick up some scrap fabric he found on sale the other day. It might not be pretty, but it’s doable.

“‘Course I can. My talents with a needle are the best around! Go ahead and bring this to the table in the back. I’m going to grab my supplies from the car.”

Kaede takes a seat at the table with her quilt while Antonio runs outside. He grabs his kit and heads back, slowing as he passes by the couch to give a thumbs-up to Kotetsu’s questioning glance. His earlier irritation fades away when Kotetsu replies with a relieved smile. Even though he keeps up a good poker face, Antonio knows that Kotetsu was a little more than worried over what could have been the end of his wife’s precious gift to Kaede. He’s happy that there’s something he can do to help.

Antonio sits with Kaede and retrieves what he thinks he’ll need for this task. Since the stuffing is mostly intact, he takes out his seam ripper and focuses first on removing the torn top layer squares. He works slow, mostly out of necessity, but also because it’s the first time in quite a while that he’s been able to spend some time with Kaede. He wants to connect with her, but he isn’t exactly sure what to do. He could start a conversation, but what do teenagers talk about these days? He isn’t up to date on current youth fashion, and all the things he knows aren’t suitable for Kaede’s innocent ears. What does she like again?

He remembers Kotetsu mentioning her mild infatuation with Barnaby, so he starts there. “Uh, Barnaby’s your favorite hero, right? Do you like spending time with him and your dad?”

Antonio watches Kaede’s face flicker through a few different emotions as she puzzles through her answer, eventually settling on a look of utter exhaustion. She glances at the couch before leaning in close and lowering her voice to a whisper.

“You know, I thought it would be really fun seeing Mr. Barnaby more often. And it is! But…” Her gaze falls to the side. “Then there’s dad.”

“Ah.” Antonio knows that feeling rather well. Kotetsu tends to have a certain kind of effect on people. Based on how he and Barnaby interact around the other heroes, Antonio bets it’s probably similar at home.

“If it makes you feel better, Barnaby seems to enjoy Kotetsu’s chaotic nature. They may seem at each other’s throats, but it’s just the way they show affection. Kind of like how you pretend to hate Kotetsu’s cooking but still perk up when you smell the fried rice.”

“W-what – I don’t – how would you know anyway?!” Antonio laughs at Kaede’s beet red face and refuses to elaborate. He knows she isn’t too upset at him, though, based on the small smile she tries to hide.

He lets the conversation lull into a comfortable silence as he measures and cuts the scrap fabric. Occasionally suspenseful music drifts from the television to interrupt their peace, making Antonio speculate that the previous program has ended. A quick look at the television confirms it, and he holds back a chuckle. Of course, it’s a cooking competition.

He finishes prepping the new fabric and spreads it out for Kaede to see. “I don’t have anything as fun as Tomoe’s fabric on me right now, but this will at least fix the quilt.”

Kaede bites her lip apprehensively but nods all the same. Antonio’s heart threatens to break at the sight, and he finds himself tripping over his words to console her.

“D-don’t worry! If you want, we can find some fabric shapes for you to sew onto it later. They make all kinds of things: animals, hearts, stars, you name it.”

Kaede seems content with the answer, and Antonio internally cheers. He takes to his task with renewed vigor, and after pinning the pieces in place, he starts to sew. It’s pretty routine work for him, a simple whip stitch around the edges and that’ll be enough to keep everything in place. He could do this in his sleep, easy. He gets through most of his repairs without incident, and because he’s so relaxed, he’s wholly unprepared for Kaede when she speaks.

“So, you knew my mom, right?”

He looks up in surprise because wow, he wasn’t exactly expecting  _ that  _ subject to crop up. In the process, he loses focus and bites back a yell as his sewing needle stabs him squarely in his thumb.

“Shi – ah – um, yeah I knew Tomoe. I was close to her and Kotetsu since high school.”

“What was she like?”

Antonio gulps. This is a question better suited for her father, but Antonio never could deny Kaede much of anything when she asked. He goes back to work, thinking on how best to answer and eventually settles for whatever comes out.

“She was... perfect for Kotetsu. A total hero fan, and responsible where he was… Well, you know how your father is. Also had a pretty mean right hook.” Kaede’s eyes widen at that, and she urges him to continue. “Ahh, well I’m sure Kotetsu can tell you all about her better than I could, but one thing I can say is that she really loved you. She was never good at arts and crafts, but she worked her butt off to make this quilt. It represents all of her love for you, so make sure to keep it safe, okay?”

After double-knotting the thread and cutting off the excess, Antonio passes the quilt over to Kaede. She takes it carefully, handling it as if it were glass, and hugs it to her chest with tears in her eyes. “Thank you so much, Uncle Antonio, for everything.”

He nods (and doesn’t tear up, dammit), watching her bring the quilt over to the couch, where she shows off the repaired seams to Barnaby and her father. Her smile is bright, he notes fondly, and he’s glad that even on his day off, he could still be her hero.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> Did you enjoy yourself? Consider letting me know with a kudos and/or comment! And if you're curious about my other work or just want to find where else I am on the internet, you can find that [here](https://mezzosesu.carrd.co/)!


End file.
